


(I Saw Him) Standing There

by wildfirelies



Category: Glee
Genre: Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-02-01
Updated: 2011-01-31
Packaged: 2017-10-25 22:13:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/275397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildfirelies/pseuds/wildfirelies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The pub is all sorts of filled and as Kurt and Mercedes push past the masses of people to get to the bar (and get their much-needed drinks), Kurt can't help but wonder if this Blaine character who's performing there tonight is really worth all the fuss.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The pub is all sorts of filled and as Kurt and Mercedes push past the masses of people to get to the bar (and get their much-needed drinks), Kurt can't help but wonder if this Blaine character who's performing there tonight is really worth all the fuss. As far as Kurt knows, he's just here to enjoy a night out with his best friend — God knows he deserves it. He works crazy hours; he likes to enjoy the time off that he gets. Mercedes insisted that this place was supposed to be really good. She said one of her co-workers recommended it and Kurt, well, Kurt was up for anything.

As the two order their drinks and settle down by the bar, the lights dim and Kurt swears his ears might explode. All of a sudden, girls are yelling like crazy, and he so would cover his ears right now if it weren't for the fact that he's holding a very promising and hopefully delicious martini that he would rather not throw away, thankyouverymuch. The curtains open, and for a moment, Kurt admires the way they rustle as they're pulled into the sides of the stage. The pub is small but quaint and it reminds him of a 40s movie; he's basically waiting for the swing music to start playing.

Then this "Blaine character" comes out and Kurt and Mercedes instantly grab each other's hands. "Yours or mine?" Mercedes whispers quickly, not wasting a single second. Kurt looks at Blaine critically as the curly-haired musician introduces himself and his song before beginning to play. There is no absolute way that this guy is gay, and Kurt can't help but lament that because he is oh so handsome. But of course he's straight. He's too handsome, too talented, too perfect to ever be gay because, come on, that'd be like something out of a movie. And Kurt's life is anything but something out of a movie.

He's twenty-six, a successful actor on Broadway and has no social life outside of his nights out with Mercedes. Obviously, his love life is non-existent; the last time he went out on a date, the guy turned out to be a tattoo artist who had an affliction with wearing shirts. Needless to say, that date was over as soon as it started.

"Oh, definitely yours," Kurt says, shaking his head regretfully. "As much as it pains me to say, it'd be physically impossible for someone that perfect to be gay." Mercedes just laughs and pats his hand comfortingly and they both go back to drooling over Blaine, occasionally commenting on the performance (but mostly thinking about how perfect this man is). During one of the last songs, Kurt could swear that he sees Blaine looking over at him, but he immediately shakes his head, realizing how unlikely that is. The lights on stage are nearly blinding and there's a mass of girls between him and Kurt. What would be the chances?

After the show is over, Kurt and Mercedes move to a table off to the side of the pub, drinking and gossiping like they haven't in a while — really, though, it's been a week, but it feels like a while. They're in the middle of discussing whether they want to attend Paris Fashion Week (although it's no question for Kurt; the only thing is he hates being alone and Mercedes isn't sure she can go; but really, for Paris Fashion Week, he'd suck it up) when Kurt hears someone clear his throat and looks up to see — yup, him — Blaine himself standing by the head of the table, looking, well, every inch as sexy as he did onstage and possibly even more so.

"Well, hi," Mercedes says and with one quick glance at her, Kurt can see she's got her sexy smile on. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, thanks," Blaine says, looking directly at Kurt when he speaks, shooting him a wide smile. Could it be? "How about you?"

"We're great, thank you," Mercedes answers, still giving him that smile that was definitely inviting for some X-rated activities. "Why don't you join us?"

"How could I possibly say no to that?" Blaine asks, and Kurt has to refrain from fainting because he hasn't stopped staring at him. Right now, he's starting to question whether Blaine is as straight as they think. But really, is it any more than wishful thinking? Kurt definitely thinks so.

Kurt notices Mercedes looking at him oddly; she's probably noticed how flustered he feels. She has her thinking face on, probably thinking something along the lines of _Blaine is so checking him out right now_ ; after all, she insists he's irresistible. Right now, she's probably thinking that even though Blaine might not be as straight as they thought, at least her boy has a chance at a date with a cute guy. "I'm Mercedes," she says, and Kurt's eyes flicker to hers, almost as if he knows what she's about to say, "and this sexy man here, who you haven't stopped looking at, is my boy Kurt."

Kurt blushes furiously and as Mercedes just grins innocently, he notices the look in Blaine's eyes going from curious and definitely interested to full-out adoring. While Blaine flags down a waiter and orders a martini (oh yeah, definitely gay), Kurt looks at Mercedes, eyes wide and looking so excited Mercedes probably has to resist the urge to pat herself on the back. After a few minutes of meaningless chatting, Mercedes stands up and yawns. "That's my cue to leave," she says, gathering her things and avoiding Kurt's eyes, because she's must know he'll be glaring at her and sending her _don't go_ telepathic messages. "I'll see you Wednesday, baby."

With a kiss to Kurt's cheek, Mercedes makes her exit and Kurt glares after her, tempted to make some excuse and leave as well. Mercedes very well knows how completely awkward he has the capability of being when faced with an attractive man.

"Don't look so horrified," Blaine says, smiling lopsidedly at him. Kurt looks at him and smiles, praying that he doesn't look like some dweeb who is incapable of social interaction. "I don't bite, promise."

"Oh, really? I had you pegged for a kinky kind of gay," Kurt retorts wittily, surprising himself with his straightforwardness, and the look Blaine gives him almost — almost — makes him blush. But he's twenty-six, not some giggling schoolgirl, and the blushing is not necessary.

"Who's to say I'm not?" Blaine shoots back equally quickly, an eyebrow quirking up and oh dear Gaga, Kurt might just be falling in love with this guy.

The second time Kurt sees Blaine, the performance is in a much, much nicer venue than the first time they met. It had been two weeks since Blaine's last concert and after spending the night talking and laughing (only succeeding to make Kurt further enamoured with him) and Blaine had invited him to his next show. That was how he ended up sitting in this cute little venue with a really high up stage, velvet curtains and a black and white marquee outside the place, which sported Blaine's name. And okay, Kurt did take a picture of it.

The amount of people at the show seems less than last time, since this theatre is considerably bigger, but Kurt wonders for the first time how famous Blaine is; there's actually quite a crowd at this show and they look every bit as crazy as †he girls from the last concert. For a second, Kurt wonders if Blaine's fans know he's gay — would that make them like him less or more? Kurt would think more, but then again, he's very biased.

Once the show starts, Kurt settles into his seat, not sure if he's glad he refused Blaine's offer to let him in backstage for the show or not. On one hand, the view is much better here, but at the same time, how cool would it be to just flash his backstage pass and get in? His thoughts are interrupted when Blaine starts talking; while he does so, Kurt just looks up at him with admiration. He has to wonder why Blaine picked him of all people to talk to at the bar. After all, this guy is seemingly perfect and Kurt, well, isn't.

"He's so cute," sighs a small blonde girl who's standing next to him, apparently alone. Kurt gives her a small smile, not sure what to say, but she takes it as her cue to go on. "I've been a fan of his since last year, my brother went to the school he went to, you know, Dalton, but I'm sure you knew that. So anyway, he came to perform a concert there to raise money for the children in Africa or something and I went. I fell in love. I've never met him because my mom didn't let me stay last time to meet him afterwards and all his other concerts have been too far away but now we're here on vacation and so is he so it's perfect."

Kurt nods, uncertain on what would be a proper response to this monologue the girl launched into. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I totally started ranting without even introducing myself! Nice to meet you, I'm Jamie. What's your name?" she asks.

"Kurt, Kurt Hummel," he says, and just as he's about to go on and say something nice to her, Blaine comes out and once again, Kurt goes deaf. He shrugs helplessly at Jamie but it doesn't even matter because she's not looking at him anymore; she's looking at Blaine, of course, with a loving expression that Kurt thought only existed in bad romance movies.

Following an absolutely wonderful cover of "Just My Imagination," which then somehow turned into a smolderinghotsexyamazing cover of "Fever," Blaine ends his set and Kurt heads backstage as he was told, pretending he doesn't notice the glares Jamie shoots his way. When the security guard goes to check Kurt's name on the list, Kurt waves her over, chuckling at the complete change of stance on the girl, who basically flounces over to him.

Even though the guard glares at Kurt for bringing someone else back, he does go ask Blaine to come over to the entrance for a second. "Hey, Blaine," Kurt says, waving at him as a wave of nerves washed over him. "This is Jamie, she sat next to me and was just absolutely enraptured by your show. She mentioned wanting to meet you so I thought I'd bring her along with me, is that okay?"

Blaine smiles cheerfully and lets Kurt in, hugging him before moving on to say Jamie. While the two of them talks (and the girl tries not to hyperventilate), Kurt looks around backstage, feeling immensely privileged to be there. He must have spaced out because suddenly Blaine is tapping his shoulder, an amused grin in his face. Jamie is gone and Kurt just blinks; how much exactly did he miss?

"Ready to go get something to eat?" Blaine asks, taking Kurt's hand in his. His thumb is tracing circles on the back of Kurt's hand, and for a second, Kurt can't even come up with a proper answer. All he can think of to say are things along the lines of "huh?" and "uh." He nods, truly afraid to say anything out loud in case he does end up saying something combining those two sounds (because he certainly doesn't consider them words). Blaine is still looking at him with that playful, lopsided grin, almost as if he's fully aware of the effects that he has on Kurt.

They end up going to an Italian place for dinner, and Kurt thanks the heavens because even if it's terribly fattening, Italian food is his weakness. He's just about deciding that Blaine is his soul mate and almost starts thinking of a color scheme for their wedding when their waiter brings them their drinks and their menus and then Blaine's eyes are on his and oh God what was Kurt even thinking about?

"Do you know what you're ordering yet?" Blaine asks, taking a sip of his Dr. Pepper. Kurt can't help but smile at the fact that Blaine ordered such a childish drink and just sips daintily at his Diet Coke (which, granted, isn't that much better).

"I was thinking about maybe some ravioli. Or gnocchi. Oh, yum, mushroom gnocchi," Kurt says and blushes when he realizes Blaine is pretty much staring him down, much like he was the first time they met.

He realizes that Blaine must be thinking what a pig he is; gnocchi is such a fat-person food! Why did Kurt even say that stuff? Is his filter for things he should and shouldn't say in front of cute, gay and single guys even working today? Obviously not. He realizes that while this whole battle is going on inside his head, Blaine is talking, and he struggles to catch the tail end of his sentence. "—definitely go for some," is all he hears and he just nods, hoping he didn't miss anything too important. He takes another sip of his soda and looks around the restaurant, admiring how cute and picturesque it is. Blaine definitely has good taste in date restaurants.

"This place reminds me of this restaurant where I grew up," Kurt reflects absently, twirling his drink's straw between his thumb and index finger. "Everyone at my school went there when they were on dates — typical Friday night date place. They had really good food, though. Italian, of course, and the yummiest bread sticks ever. Of course, that's why it was called Breadstix."

Blaine's eyes widen suddenly and Kurt immediately worries. Did he say something wrong? Oh, God, what if they weren't even on a date and Kurt had to go and say that about the date restaurants and holy shit, he is just such an idiot. "Wait, it was called Breadstix?" Blaine asks, and Kurt nods, holding his freak out back for a few more seconds at the least. "Did you live in Lima?"

When Blaine asks him that, Kurt really isn't sure what to say, because honestly, he knows he never told Blaine where he's from, so how would he even know? Before Kurt can answer, though, Blaine is talking again, and considerably faster than usual, even for him. "The thing is, I went to school in Westerville, about two hours from Lima. I went to Dalton, I don't know if you've heard of it, but Breadstix, we'd definitely heard of. It was so popular, everyone from Dalton went there for their dates."

Kurt nods and lets go of his straw, letting it fall back into the cup. "Oh," he says, processing all this information before deciding it's just a weird coincidence. "What a small world, right?" He thinks about Blaine's face when he got all excited about having lived two hours away from each other when they were teenagers and smiles to himself. How is this man even human?

"What are you smiling about?" Blaine asks, looking at Kurt almost as if he's the most interesting person on the planet. Kurt can't stop feeling like this is all a dream, much too perfect to be true, and he shrugs in response to Blaine's question.

"I was just thinking that it's cute how you're so excited about us both being from Ohio," he answers. Just then, their waiter arrives with their food and while they receive their plates, Blaine shoots Kurt a wide smile, but they remain in silence. Once the waiter is gone, their conversation changes to their careers; Kurt wants to know when Blaine has a concert again and Blaine wants to go see the show Kurt is currently in.

After they finish their food, order dessert and end so long talking that the waiters are all glaring at them, Kurt and Blaine finally leave the restaurant. Kurt feels as their hands brush against each other and suppresses a shiver, almost wondering if maybe he should just hold Blaine's hand and get over it. However, he doesn't, and Blaine just walks him to the subway station Kurt needs to take to get home. They say goodbye and Kurt promises that he won't fall off the face of the earth and that yes, he will save tickets for Blaine for his show and they part ways with a small wave and a smile on each their faces.

He's almost to his apartment, exiting the subway station, to be precise, when his phone beeps with an incoming message.

 **From: Blaine**  
Is it bad that I miss you already?

Not knowing how to answer this, he simply types a colon and an end parenthesis, and sends Blaine a happy face.


	2. Chapter 2

It's been about a month since their date after Blaine's concert when Blaine calls him. When he sees his name on his phone's screen, Kurt's heart does a little flip flop, and he smiles happily. He should be used to Blaine calling, because he really does call quite often, but it still causes butterflies in his stomach. Blaine wants to see Kurt's show so he says he's going to go that night and if Kurt could pretty please save him tickets.

"Of course I can," Kurt says and does a little dance around his kitchen, because that's not weird at all, feeling ecstatic at the thought of seeing Blaine again. In the three days, six hours and eighty-eight minutes (but who's counting?) since he last saw Blaine, he has not been able to take his mind off him. Mercedes, being the best friend she is, does not mind this at all and in fact likes to remind him of that.

"How's your wannabe boyfriend?" she teases him as they drink coffee at a small cafe near her apartment in Chelsea a few hours after Blaine's call. Kurt blushes but can't even help the grin that creeps onto his face (nor does he want to) because everything is wonderful and he hasn't felt this happy since the Jenny Packham spring collection of '14.

"He's good," he answers, trying to be coy, which he knows doesn't work on Mercedes anyway, and he's right, because she knows he's hiding something. "He's coming to see the show tonight. I saved him a ticket. Only one, too, so there is absolutely no chance he'd bring someone else with him."

"Are you crazy? Why would he even think about bringing someone else? Aren't you two official by now?" Mercedes asks indignantly and huffs; Kurt just laughs at his best friend before patting her hand. There's a reason he tells her everything and it's because he wouldn't be able to deal with anything it if weren't for her.

"We are, I was just commenting on the fact that he's coming solo. It's a very good thing for me," Kurt replies, shooting Mercedes a blissful smile. He feels like there is really nothing wrong with the world right now, which, in some ways, is very disturbing, but he's just so happy right now, he couldn't care less.

"He better make you happy," Mercedes answers threateningly and Kurt just laughs because he knew she was going to say that. Sometimes, he thinks she can read his mind. Most of the time, actually, he's absolutely positive that she can.

"Why don't you come, too?" Kurt blurts out suddenly and once he does, he questions if that was really a smart idea. He knows Mercedes will behave, especially if he asks her too, but what if she somehow says something to Blaine and ends up messing it all up? Who knows what would happen?

Kurt takes a deep breath to try and calm himself. Right. This was his best friend. Mercedes. No need to worry.

"That's okay, you two can have your date time and be all lovey dovey. I'm just gonna hang out with James," Mercedes says, raising her eyebrows in what Kurt calls her "ask me what I'm talking about" look.

"Oh, and pray tell who this James is?"

"He's my new sort of boyfriend," Mercedes says, squealing happily and for a moment, Kurt joins her. "He's a lawyer. How hot is that? He's actually a co-worker's neighbor, that's how we met. I was at Liz's building and we were about to take the elevator up to her apartment when this guy rushed in with a bunch of papers and books in one hand and a coffee in the other. Long story short, he spilled it on me."

Kurt winces in sympathy for Mercedes' poor clothes. He would kill Blaine (or anyone, really) if they spilled coffee on anything of his. "Please don't tell me it was the Pucci scarf I gave you for your birthday."

Mercedes shakes her head quickly. "No, no need to worry. Your scarf is safe and sound in my closet," she says, smiling lopsidedly at him. "You know I take care of everything you give me."

"Oh, I know. That's why you're my best friend," Kurt says, putting his hand over his heart dramatically. They both burst out laughing and for a  
moment, Kurt feels like he's back in high school and they're just sitting in the choir room gossiping or talking about fashion.

That night, Kurt is pacing around his dressing room while he waits for his final cue to go out for bows. The show was great, even if Kurt felt like he was messing up every other line and scene he had. If he as being honest with himself, he wasn't half bad.

After he goes out for bows, he heads backstage, right back to his dressing room, and starts to take off his heavy stage make up. Once he's finished, he puts away his costume and gets dressed in his clothes, knowing that Blaine will be arriving any second now.

Even so, he can't help but feel excited and nervous and all these other anxiety-related feelings when he hears a knock on the door. "Come in," he calls out, putting away his make up remover before grabbing his jacket from where it's lying on the back of his chair.

He's in the middle of putting on his jacket when Blaine walks in, looking heartbreakingly handsome and carrying a bouquet of red roses. Kurt feels like he's going to melt because honestly, Blaine got him roses. How adorable is that? That's when he realizes that he somehow put his jacket on backwards and inside out and then he gets tangled in it, too. Great. Just great.

"Hi, Kurt," his boyfriend (boyfriend!) says as he hands him the roses, giving him a kiss that makes Kurt suddenly feel like he might fall. He leans against the counter, attempting to react in a normal person way. Blaine doesn't even comment on the fact that Kurt very stupidly just got tangled in a jacket, bless his soul.

"Blaine, oh my gosh, thank you so much!" is what he comes up with, and he mentally pats himself on the back for not sounding like he was having a mental breakdown or something of the sort. Blaine just grins at him, that grin that makes Kurt go weak in the knees and wow, he realizes now that he just can't be trusted to stay upright in Blaine's presence. It's too much to ask for.

"You were incredible, Kurt," Blaine says with that honesty of his that makes him feel like the most special person in the world. Blaine has different ways of paying him compliments. When they lie in bed after having had sex (which is as mind-blowing as Kurt expected it to be and more), Blaine will just look at him and tell him he's beautiful.

When they're just hanging out or cooking together as they listen to the radio, and Kurt sings, Blaine just listens to him before saying something like, "Wow, Kurt. I can never get tired of hearing you sing." Kurt wishes he could just have Blaine compliment him on something whenever he's feeling crappy because really, the man is too much of an ego boost to even be healthy.

"Thank you, babe," Kurt says and kisses Blaine's cheek, still smiling excitedly. He's just so happy nowadays; it's hard to wipe the grin from his face. He hasn't smiled this much since he was in high school and his dad and Carole got married or since he auditioned for "A Chorus Line" and began working on the show.

"So I was thinking," Blaine starts, and Kurt feels that whatever he's about to say, he won't mind at all because if he's being honest, that's always the case. "What if we go to my apartment and I cook you dinner?"

Kurt smiles and presses a kiss to his boyfriend's cheek before nodding. "Sounds better than anything else I had in mind," he says, which is true, because he just wanted to get Chinese take out and veg out in front of the TV. So sue him, he didn't always take care of himself. He deserved a break.

"Alright, let's go, then." Blaine grabs his bags, being the gentleman he is, before reaching for Kurt's hand and lacing their fingers together. Handholding is something Kurt can never, ever get tired of. They really do hold hands an awful lot, but it is just such a nice, cute, couple-y thing to do, Kurt always wants to.

When they get to Blaine's apartment, Kurt is antsy to get in, knowing that tonight is not just going to be dinner and a movie and maybe a nice cuddle on the couch. He knows tonight is one of those nights where they're going to have sex and he feels like a teenager for getting all worked up about it.

He really can't help it, though, especially when Blaine begins to cook because if there is one side of Blaine that Kurt adores, it's his domestic one. Kurt could very well just sit there and watch him cook and even get off on it. He feels like an idiot for even thinking something like this, but it's true; watching Blaine cook for him really is too hot.

While he cooks, Blaine turns on the radio, singing quietly to himself. It's some top 40 hit that is played constantly and while Kurt isn't particularly fond of the song, he'd be happy listening to Blaine sing anything he wanted to. Kurt sits down at the counter, swinging his legs back and forth as his ankles hit the wood below them, and simply watches Blaine moving around the kitchen. He's so at ease that Kurt is convinced he grew up cooking with his mom because there is no way he could've learned to cook like this just for fun.

At some point three songs later, Blaine finally notices that Kurt is watching him, and he shoots him a wide smile. "Aren't you gonna help?" Blaine asks as he expertly handles whatever it is he's making. Kurt shrugs and just gives him the most charming smile he can muster, knowing that Blaine is mostly kidding, although he supposes he could help. Blaine gives him instructions to cut up some tomatoes and Kurt  
just does as he's told, singing along to the radio as he and Blaine finish making dinner.

When it's all done, they set the table and light two candles they find in one of the drawers. One of the candles is white and tall and the other is red and quite small, but it works, because it's not like this is some fancy dinner. They're in the middle of eating when Kurt suddenly feels Blaine's foot sliding up his leg and has to resist the urge to jump up in surprise. He looks at Blaine oddly, who doesn't even say anything or even react, yet his foot is getting higher and higher up on Kurt's leg and oh God if he goes any closer to that area, then Kurt might just completely abandon the thought of finishing their dinner. Having sex definitely beats any form of eating, whether it be necessary for survival or whatever.

"Blaine," Kurt hisses, because he's getting very, very distracted and can barely handle eating the food without it dropping all over; he's so jumpy right now. Blaine just gives him an innocent smile and Kurt can't help but grumble. They finish eating quickly, pretending they're totally not rushing just to go and have sex and once they clear the table, they're rushing so much to get to Blaine's room that Kurt trips.

And falls. And twists his ankle and hits his head against the wall. Blaine stops suddenly and helps him up but Kurt can't help but moan in pain; partly because of falling and, you know, hitting his head, and partly because he's sure as hell their plans are ruined for the night.

"Oh, God," Kurt mumbles as Blaine helps him to his bed, lying back against the pillows. He grabs one and hides behind it, pressing it against his face. "I am such an idiot."

"Kurt, you're not trying to suffocate yourself or anything, are you?" Blaine asks, removing the pillow gently and setting it down next to him. Kurt is blushing furiously right now and he feels like such a klutz, but of course Blaine is being the perfect gentleman and doesn't even look upset because they're not having sex right now.

"I'm sorry I'm such a failure," Kurt says softly, wanting desperately to disappear right now. Blaine just chuckles before kissing his forehead softly and it's such a nice gesture, it makes Kurt want to die even more, if that's even possible. Blaine would be nice about something like this.

"Oh, Kurt," Blaine says, cupping Kurt's face in his hands. "Don't feel bad. It was just an accident; stuff like this happens. We'll live."

Half an hour later, they're cuddling on Blaine's bed, Kurt's head on Blaine's chest as they watch old Friends reruns. Maybe they didn't get laid, but Kurt doesn't mind so much.


	3. Chapter 3

They're in a magazine.

That's what Kurt first thinks when Mercedes hands him the copy of People she was reading while they got their weekly pedicures.

They're in a freaking magazine. Kurt is very aware that his boyfriend of two years is talented – in fact, there is no doubt in his mind about that. And he knows that Blaine is only getting more and more well-known, because really, he has been selling out shows  
more frequently than before, but still.

They're in a freaking magazine. The picture is of them at the premiere for the new Katherine Heigl movie they'd gone to last Wednesday and as he looks at it, he can barely believe it. He keeps repeating this to himself. We're in a magazine. People magazine, no less!

"Earth to Kurt?" he hears Mercedes say and she's suddenly snapping her fingers in front of his face. Kurt blinks and turns to look at her, his face frozen in this expression of surprise. "I really thought I'd lost you there for a bit, baby. How's famous life feel?"

Her smile is teasing and Kurt just rolls his eyes, shrugging it off. "Well, you know, it's a hard life, but we do our best to deal with it," he says nonchalantly, as if he weren't still freaking out inside. Mercedes laughs and pats his knee before picking up another magazine and beginning to read, but not before retorting something about telling him if he's in there too.

Kurt pulls out his phone and just as he's about to start a new text for Blaine, it buzzes. Of course his boyfriend would know when he was about to text him. He rolls his eyes fondly before opening the text.

 **From: Blaine**  
Just a heads up, but Erin just called me to tell me People put a picture of us at Katherine's movie in there. Thought you'd like to know. I love you. 3

His boyfriend is such a sap. Kurt grins widely, feeling the ever-eternal butterflies resurface again. He only gets this excited when he's talking to Blaine. And okay, when he buys an Alexander McQueen piece. Or when he sees pictures from Marc Jacobs' new collections.

 **To: Blaine**  
Duly noted. ;) Mercedes and I just saw it, actually, but thank you for letting me know. Celebratory dinner tonight? My place, at seven. Be there.

Not even two minutes later, Kurt's phone is buzzing again. "Someone's popular," Mercedes says quickly. Kurt just shoots her a brilliant grin, winking at her.

 **From: Blaine**  
Nice try, Mr. Hummel, but I seem to recall the lease is currently under my name.

Two seconds later, his phone starts buzzing again, this time with an incoming call from Blaine. He smiles happily as he presses 'answer' because even though they were talking two seconds ago and it's only been three hours since he last saw him, he can't help but feel enthusiastic about talking to his boyfriend.

"Mr. Anderson," he says when he picks up the phone. "How may I be of service to you?"

Blaine chuckles and Kurt can just see him rolling his eyes to himself. He knows his boyfriend too well. "Well, you see, there's this gorgeous man I like to call my beau who invited me to dinner," he responds and Kurt just smiles brightly, "but there's a problem. I got my beau tickets for a concert tonight as well, and I'm afraid I just can't tell him no."

Kurt tries not to giggle as he comes up with something to say in return. "Have you gotten tickets for just your beau, or for you as well?" he asks and Mercedes shoots him a strange look.

"Oh, I've got tickets for both of us, of course," Blaine replies smoothly.

"Then I don't see the problem at all! You can just attend the concert with this wonderful, charming, fantastic beau of yours and dine together afterwards," Kurt says and grins at Mercedes, holding up his hand to let her know he'll explain everything shortly. "Now seriously, though, what tickets are you even talking about?"

Blaine laughs. "Well, this friend of mine knows a friend of this one artist that you happen to like very much," he begins, "and this artist is holding a private concert for said friend's birthday party."

Kurt blinks, waiting for Blaine to continue because holy shit if he's talking about who Kurt thinks he's talking about, he will be Blaine's slave for ever and ever. "So who would this artist be?"

"Oh, no one that big. Just Lady Gaga," Blaine says airily and oh dear Gaga Kurt cannot help the tiny little scream that escapes him. Mercedes looks at him in shock, probably wondering what the hell is going on.

"Blaine, Blaine, hold on one second," Kurt says quickly before turning to his best friend.  
"."

Mercedes squeals right along with him, knowing better than anyone the deep love that Kurt feels for Lady Gaga. "Okay, back, sorry," Kurt tells Blaine. "I can't believe you. Are you for real?"

Now that he's calmed down a bit and can think more rationally, he realizes that of course Blaine would go out of his way to get them tickets to a Lady Gaga concert. That's the kind of boyfriend he is. They've been dating for a two years, two months and nineteen days and Kurt still gets flowers every day before he performs. That's not to say that they never fight, because really, they do. They have their issues like every other couple but right now, Kurt doesn't want to think about that because he's got it pretty great, so why look at the empty half of the glass?

"Yes, I'm very much for real, thank you," Blaine says. Before Kurt can answer, he hears muffled talking on the other end of the line.  
"Shit, sorry, love, I have to go. I'm in the studio right now and some crazy singer just walked in demanding to see me and talking about Barbra Streisand and I'm really not sure how those two are related."

Kurt wonders for a second, _could it be_ , but he dismisses the thought quickly, tells Blaine he loves him and hangs up.

"Aw, look at you two, being such a cutesy couple," Mercedes says; Kurt just grins at her, because what is there to say?

It's ridiculous how well he knows his boyfriend and yet how he is still fully capable to surprise him. Not only had he gotten him tickets for a private Lady Gaga concert (because if that didn't make Blaine a god in his book, he didn't know what would), but he'd also planned for them to meet her. There went Kurt's life. He'd met Lady Gaga. He was just going to spend the rest of eternity worshipping Blaine.

Once they were home from the concert, Blaine heads straight for the iPod speakers, mumbling something about crazy Lady Gaga fans and needing to listen to something else. Kurt just rolls his eyes fondly and goes into the kitchen, where he sets on making his boyfriend the perfect meal.

Dinner is as enjoyable as it is every day – Kurt looks forward to coming home and eating with his boyfriend and this time is no exception. They talk about their days, about Blaine's upcoming concerts in L.A. and how Kurt is absolutely not allowed, under any condition, to bring more than three suitcases.

To be completely honest, Kurt can barely believe his luck sometimes. He knows Blaine isn't perfect, but he feels like he tries as hard as he can to be, and really, that gets on his nerves. But only barely. Mostly, Kurt is worried that things are going too well, that something will happen to make him come crashing down from the fairy tale life he's leading.

He knows Blaine isn't perfect, though. He really does. He has an ungodly obsession with Frank Sinatra and will play his music until Kurt is going crazy and shuts it off himself. He's an insomniac and only sleeps because Kurt tells him too; otherwise, he'd stay up all night writing songs. He's also a complete slob, which annoys Kurt to no end.

Kurt would be stupid to pay too much attention to those things that Blaine does, however, because he's perfectly aware he has his own flaws and Blaine just puts up with him through it all. Why would he be nit-picking at all the bad things in their relationship when he has an amazing thing right in front of him?

Blaine is funny, gorgeous, talented, sexy; he puts up with his shopping sprees, his bitchy moods, his Lady Gaga phases when all he does is play her music, and just him in general. And Kurt knows he can be a handful. Kurt also knows that he wants to spend the rest of his life with this wonderful man by his side.

Thinking about all this as he heads home from work the next day, Kurt turns off his iPod and stashes it in his satchel, getting off the subway and walking the three blocks to their apartment. It's getting colder, the kind of day that requires Kurt to bust out his Burberry coat but doesn't need much else – in other words, a perfect fall day.

As he walks into the flat and sets down his keys on the table by the front door, Kurt spots Blaine's shoes by the door. He's told him a million and one times not to leave them there, but it's hopeless. Blaine is a slob through and through. "One of these days, Blaine, I will trip on your shoes. And fall. And break my neck and you will regret it for the rest of your life," Kurt calls out.

He hears Blaine's laugh reverberate through the apartment and even though he's rolling his eyes, he smiles anyway. Blaine comes out of the living room with his guitar in hand and greets him with a kiss.

"I'm assuming you're writing a song?" Kurt asks, one eyebrow quirked. "Wait, no, let me guess. You rushed home after a meeting, struck with an idea you had to get down on paper immediately. Actually, chances are you wrote it on your hand." He takes Blaine's hand and checks to see that yes, in fact, there are song lyrics scribbled down there.

Blaine grins sheepishly and begins to talk, but Kurt holds his hand up. "Wait. Not done yet. You got home and you were humming the melody in your head, so you took your shoes off, threw your keys wherever they landed and grabbed your guitar. And you haven't moved since," he finishes, laughing at Blaine's face.

"You're good," Blaine says before kissing him earnestly, his free hand pulling Kurt closer before wrapping his arm around his waist. Kurt placed his hands on Blaine's face, kissing him back happily before pulling back.

"Don't pout at me like that!" He laughs at his boyfriend's face, dropping a swift kiss on his lips before rolling his eyes fondly, as he seemed to do oh so often. "I need to go to the store, I'll cook us dinner while you finish your song."

"You are the best and I love you and I don't know what I would do without you."

Kurt raises an eyebrow. "Commit suicide?" he suggests and laughs at Blaine's expression. "Although I'm warning you, if you want me to make dinner, those shoes better not be there when I get back."

Blaine nods eagerly before retreating back to the living room as Kurt puts his jacket back on, grabs his keys and heads out. He spends a good half hour at the store, making sure to really ponder which type of Parmesan cheese to take, before heading home.

He has too many bags in his hands to see the shoes there, which, of course, cause him to trip, fall on his face and in the process, break the glass jar of the damn Parmesan cheese he'd bought because it was Blaine's favorite.

Kurt tries – he really, really tries – to take a deep breath and calm down before he goes to berate Blaine for leaving the shoes there. But he can't help that he's mad; seeing red, more accurately, because dammit, he had only asked ione/i simple thing of Blaine, just one thing and Blaine hadn't even done it!

"Blaine Nathaniel Anderson," he just about screams, standing up and storming into the living room. "Your fucking shoes were still there when I came back. I asked you _one_ thing. Just one thing and you left your fucking shoes there. Why is it so hard for you to do what I ask?"

He realizes he's probably overreacting but he's past the point of caring. This isn't the first time that he's tripped and fallen over something Blaine has left strewn about and it's the last straw, it really is.

"Kurt, I'm sorry, I'll go get them now!" Blaine looks a little scared but it makes no difference to Kurt. Even though Blaine stands up and actually goes and gets the shoes, Kurt is still seething.

"Why do you always have to do this?" Kurt hisses, glaring at Blaine when he comes back into the room, almost looking like a puppy with his tail between his legs. "I always tell you to clean up and you are always too busy writing your stupid songs to even listen to me!"

He's screeching and he knows it. Blaine stops in his tracks, mouth hanging wide open, because if there's one thing that pisses him off, it's when people belittle his music.

"Excuse me?" he says coldly, in his own "I'm getting really angry" way and Kurt is partly wary for the fight that is about to come, yet not enough to back down. His pride is really getting in the way, but damn it, Blaine frustrates him.

"You heard me," Kurt shoots back, narrowing his eyes at Blaine.

"Are you seriously picking a fight with me because I forgot to pick up my shoes?" Blaine asks, shooting Kurt this "are you fucking kidding me?" look. Kurt almost resists answering in a bitchy way, but he cannot help it at this point. Fights always start like this with them – one of them does something, the other gets mad, and the immature comments begin.

"No, actually, I'm not. I'm 'picking a fight with you' because of your shoes, because I tripped, fell, dropped our groceries and probably ripped my jeans," Kurt informs him icily. "I'm 'picking a fight with you' because you can never seem to clean up after yourself, because you leave open containers of food lying around the kitchen, because you stay up till three a.m. and continuously wake me up with your song-writing and mostly I'm picking a fight with you because I can't put up with you anymore!"

There. He said it.

Blaine's eyes widen and Kurt honestly wishes he could take back what he said but he really is too proud to. He wanted to get all this out, but this might have been taking it a bit too far.

"Fine, _Mom_ ," Blaine retorts. Kurt can't even think of something to say because he cannot believe that Blaine went there. For the most part, their fight is petty and immature, but Blaine's comment really hit low and that's not something Kurt can just forgive.  
Blaine seems to realize this, too, because it looks like he's about to apologize, but Kurt doesn't give him a chance.

"That's it," Kurt says quietly, not really believing what he's about to say. "I'm going to stay at Mercedes. I'll come pick up my things in the morning."


	4. Chapter 4

"Do I have to go cut the bitch?" is the first thing Mercedes says to Kurt when he arrives at her apartment, every bit the loyal best friend she's always been to him. Kurt merely shakes his head, not really sure he could even give her a coherent answer without bursting into tears.

Mercedes hugs him, pressing a kiss to his cheek before letting him inside, taking his bag and leaving it on the guest room bed. "So you have two choices," she begins. "One, we can get some wine, get drunk and talk about it, or we can watch chick flicks and eat ice cream by the gallon."

"Can I take a shower first?" Kurt asks as he removes his shoes, placing them delicately next to the bed. Depression was no reason not to take care of his clothes. "I feel gross. I need warm water and quality time with my hair before I can even begin to think about consuming alcohol."

Wordlessly, Mercedes motions toward the bathroom door. Kurt shoots her a smile before grabbing his toiletries and clothes to change into. If he's being honest with himself, Kurt just wants some time alone before he has to go through the whole fight and analyze every detail, because he knows what's coming. He knows Mercedes will only confirm what he's thinking.

He isn't sure what exactly he can pin the fight on; Blaine's comment was completely unnecessary, but rationally speaking, it wasn't proportional to Kurt's reaction. Kurt can only conclude that it's a pileup of several different issues that had been in the back of his mind for a while.

Was it a fight massive enough to validate Kurt storming out with a few last words vaguely indicating they might break up? No. Kurt knows that. He's very much aware of this, in fact. Why would one of Blaine's comments get to Kurt so? The issue isn't what Blaine said, really.

What the issue is, Kurt thinks, is Blaine's complete lack of flaws. Of course he has flaws and Kurt is aware of it, but he has this annoying tendency to just hide them from view – for the first six months of their relationship, Kurt was one hundred percent sure that Blaine was, in fact, perfect.

He sees he isn't – that much is obvious. But even with all his flaws, Blaine strives for perfection; snide comments are a rare occurrence coming from him, yet a daily thing with Kurt. Kurt was sarcastic and dry; Blaine was warm and charming. While Blaine's endeavors to achieve that level of perfection are a trait that makes him the person he is, Kurt sometimes wishes he weren't so damn _good_.

As he gets out of the shower, Kurt attempts to salvage his nightly skin routine with the things that he has on him right now, mainly his emergency kit. With some help from the things that he keeps at Mercedes', he manages to do a decent job of it even if he had to sacrifice and miss some essential steps.

He heads to Mercedes' room once he's done getting dressed, but not before swinging by the kitchen and grabbing a wine bottle and two glasses. Looking at the bottle, Kurt promises himself he won't go overboard – alcohol is a lot of empty calories and it does nothing for his complexion.

"Hi, boo," Mercedes says, patting the space on the bed next to her. "How are you feeling?"

"A little better," Kurt answers as he pours the wine in their glasses. "I don't think it's fully sunk in yet. I'm not even sure what exactly happened, but we might have broken up."

Mercedes' face is priceless – Kurt is tempted to just take a picture of it. "You two? Break up?" she asks, looking at him incredulously. Kurt just gives a small shrug of the shoulders. "But what exactly happened? What was the problem?"

"He's too perfect," Kurt answers curtly.

She rolls her eyes at him. "I'm not seeing the problem here," she retorts quickly. "You have this gorgeous boy who loves you, who is willing to take you to California with him just because you want to go shopping on Rodeo, and yet he's too perfect?"

"But that's the thing!" Kurt exclaims. He struggles to explain what the issue is with Blaine's apparent perfection but he knows he better try or his best friend will not let him forget. "I'm not perfect. I have flaws. And being with Blaine only makes them seem more notorious."

Mercedes shakes her head. "Everyone has flaws, boo. Even Mr. Perfection does. We're all human, but you're nothing short of extraordinary," she says, squeezing his knee for extra emphasis on what she's saying. He rolls his eyes at her, not taking a word of what she says seriously.

"The important thing here is that you remember how you feel about him and how he feels about you," she continues. "If he loves you and you love him, then everything else can be worked through."

Kurt gives her a small smile. "Why are you so wise?"

Mercedes flashes him a smile and just shrugs.

An hour later, they're drunk. Hopelessly, completely and absolutely drunk. Kurt's usually the last person to ever get drunk – the whole episode with Miss Pillsbury and April Rhodes back in sophomore year was enough to traumatize him, at least while he got through college.

Now, however, Kurt isn't so opposed to drinking. Oh, sure, he won't do it all that often, but he does enjoy a glass of wine here and there – and he definitely enjoys a good apple martini. But this level of drunk is something that only ever happens when he's with Mercedes. Only the two of them would get drunk off cheap wine.

They spend most of the night laughing hysterically at everything the other says. "When's your birthday?" Mercedes asks, and Kurt attempts desperately to pronounce the word February correctly, but he cannot get it right.

That's the state they're in when Kurt's phone goes off, and Mercedes jumps immediately, picking it up from where it lay forgotten in the dresser. "It's lover boy!" she exclaims before erupting in a fit of giggles.

While Kurt sobers up a little bit, it's not enough to make him recognize answering the phone when he's drunk and in the middle of a fight with Blaine is not necessarily a good idea. "Hi, Blaine!" he says and giggles, not really waiting for an answer before he launches off on a rant about how great he is and how dark the night looks.

"Are you drunk?" Blaine asks as soon as he has the chance to get a word in.

Kurt nods, waiting for Blaine's answer when he realizes that they're on the phone and Blaine can't see him. "Oopsie!"

"I just wanted to tell you I'll be out all day tomorrow, if you want to come get some things. I promise I'll be gone," Blaine says, his voice sounding vulnerable, but it's something Kurt barely picks up on as he is currently preoccupied with looking in the mirror, ruffling his hair and then fixing it again.

"Okie dokie!" Kurt giggles before dropping the phone by accident – the device falls to the floor and the battery comes out, effectively ending their conversation.

They pass out some time between watching Rocky Horror Picture Show on TV and attempting to feed each other almonds by throwing them into the other's mouth. Kurt feels happy and liberated and carefree, and while deep down he realizes he won't feel so good tomorrow, he decides to simply enjoy it for now.

The first time Kurt goes by their (Blaine's?) apartment to pick up some of his things, Blaine isn't home, as promised. Kurt can't possibly imagine where he'd be at nine a.m. on a Wednesday, but he's not complaining – it gives him time to decide what he needs without worrying about Blaine coming home.

As he packs his clothes, Kurt keeps feeling like he shouldn't be taking so much. Who's to say they're really over? Life without Blaine is extremely lonely; it keeps getting worse, and it's been less than two days since their fight. He thinks of all of this as he packs, and he ends up only taking enough clothes for three days. Maybe it's just wishful thinking.

The second time Kurt goes, because he forgot his Steve Madden boots, he isn't as lucky as before. Or is he lucky this time around? He can't be sure. On one hand, their fight was really stupid and petty. Kurt wants to get it all over with. But on the other hand, part of him wants to figure out why the fight escalated so quickly, why they said the things they said – it can't be just a petty fight if they were so hurtful.

He walks into the apartment quietly, not really sure why he's tiptoeing around but doing it anyway. Blaine hears him anyway, because he comes out from their bedroom when he does. He looks terrible; his eyes are red, bloodshot and he has huge bags under his eyes. Kurt doesn't understand how it's even possible for him to look so tired when their fight was only two days ago.

"You look terrible," Kurt comments quietly, scratching the back of his neck uncomfortably. That was an awful thing to say to his (ex?) boyfriend who he's currently in a fight with, but the remark escapes him before he's even aware of it.

"Gee, thanks."

In his defense, Blaine really does look terrible. He looks defeated, sort of hopeless, and it's even more heart breaking to Kurt than the fight itself. "I'm so—" he starts, but Blaine interrupts him.

"Did you know last night was the first time we spent the night apart after a fight?" Blaine says brokenly.

"Because it was. And you know what else? I can't sleep when you're not with me, much less when you're mad at me. Although you have every right to be mad, I don't blame you at all – I just feel so horrible right now because what I said was completely out of place and fuck it, I'm ranting now, but Kurt, I really don't want to  
break up."

Kurt shakes his head, not sure how to answer. He loves Blaine, he really does, but there's a part of him that's questioning their relationship and how they feel about each other and he really doesn't even know why, because if there's one thing he knows, it's that he wants to be with Blaine.

"I… I love you," Kurt begins softly, holding up a hand when Blaine opens his mouth to answer. "I want to be with you. I do. But the thing is, you're perfect. And before you even try to deny it, hear me out, okay? You're too perfect. For two years we've been dating and in love and this whole time, you've been amazing. But – but then that whole fight happened and it made me realize you're not as perfect as I've always found you to be.  
What I'm trying to say that while your comment did hurt, I was overreacting because I'm a drama queen and tend to take everything too personally. The fight wouldn't even have been that bad had it not been for my seeing you as imperfect. As a human being. God, Blaine, I love you. I want to be with you. I don't want to break up over something as petty as this."

He barely has time to finish speaking before Blaine's arms wrap around his waist tightly. Kurt doesn't say anything – he just leans his head on Blaine's shoulder, focusing on breathing in and out. "You have no idea how relieved I am," Kurt hears Blaine say softly. "I thought I lost you – and, and over a stupid comment like the one I made. I'm so sorry, Kurt. I hope you can honestly forgive me."

Surprising Blaine (and himself, a little bit), Kurt smacks his arm and glares at Blaine. "Stop beating yourself up over this, okay?" he says. "The fight was just as much my fault, because if I'm being honest with myself, it would've happened eventually no matter what. I'm just glad it's over now."

"Fine, you win," Blaine says and kisses his cheek, linking their fingers together as he pulls Kurt closer to him, his free hand going to rest on the small of Kurt's back. Kurt shivers involuntarily, leaning down slightly to press his forehead against Blaine's. A sigh escaped his lips as he smiles, feeling extremely happy to be back and not fighting anymore; even if the fight was for a stupid reason and lasted less than two days.

"I love you," Blaine whispers, his face mirroring Kurt's expression of bliss. "I haven't been that depressed in a long time. All I did was listen to A House Is Not a Home or play Frank Sinatra. Every time I turned the volume up, I expected you to come out of nowhere and tell me to turn it down."

Kurt laughs happily. "Mercedes and I got drunk, threw almonds at each other and watched movies," he says. "I can't say I had a bad time at her flat."

"You two never have a bad time," Blaine points out and just for saying something like that, Kurt has to kiss him.

As they finish dinner later that night, after having gone to Mercedes' apartment to pick up Kurt's things, they sit down together on the couch, wanting to do nothing more but watch a movie and cuddle, stealing a few kisses here and there before they head to bed for a peaceful slumber.

 **So wanna know a funny story? I'm also posting this story over at the kurt_blaine community on lj and well, I posted chapter five there a few days ago. Then I thought to myself, okay, must post chapter five to , blah blah blah. Today, I get on to post chapter five and I realize I never posted chapter four in the first place! My apologies. That story was probably not nearly as funny as you thought it would be.**


	5. Chapter 5

Things are going well for Kurt. For Blaine, too, he supposes; they're happily in love, have been dating for three years, and have only almost broken up once or twice—what was there to complain about? Blaine's career keeps growing; he was on tour last summer but was back in the city now, recording his new album and working out the details for another tour in the summer.  
Kurt, on the other hand, is working on a new Broadway show that is gathering some buzz already. "A Chorus Line" had ended after a good five year run; Kurt was in the show for three of those five years. Now, working on "Silly Love Songs," though, he's more than happy. It has always been his dream to be part of an original Broadway cast—and it's also everything he'd expected it to be.

Even if he has to deal with Rachel in the cast, too.

Well, he shouldn't put it quite that way. Rachel might've been an annoyance in high school—okay, actually, she still is. The only difference was that she has toned it down a little. A tiny little bit, but a little nonetheless. Blaine always makes fun of him for the love-hate relationship he and Rachel have, but he just shrugs it off. They do have a pretty dysfunctional thing going—it's the New Directions syndrome, Kurt always tells Blaine.

Either way, things are going very well indeed. Sometimes, Kurt has these days when he feels like his life is honestly something out of a movie and he's just going to wake up and realize he's still a sixteen-year-old gay teenager in Ohio. Is that a good thing? He can't always tell. A little voice in the back of his mind keeps telling him that it _is_ all too good to be true; how could he have gotten so lucky?

"Hello? Earth back to Kurt?" Rachel says in her annoyingly chipper voice, looking at him. They're rehearsing one of their numbers for "Silly Love Songs" but Kurt has been spacing out for quite a while. After ten hours of dancing, he can't really help it if he's having trouble concentrating. He rolls his eyes at Kurt and looks at his script to check where he's supposed to be standing before taking one step to the right and looking at Rachel expectantly.

The show is all about two best friends who move to New York and try to become Broadway actors; just another one of the reasons Kurt loves it so much. Kurt's character, Elliot, is extremely cynical and jaded, while Rachel's character, Charlotte, is a hopeless romantic who falls in love with the director of the small show she gets cast in and—well, things get messy. Kurt and Rachel work well together, even if they're constantly getting on each other's nerves. Just yesterday, Rachel got overly enthusiastic during on of their numbers and thought it would be very in character to just run her hands through his hair.

Needless to say, Kurt ignored her the rest of the afternoon. Their cast mates had found his reaction hilarious and decided to make the most of his aversion to people touching his hair, so now, instead of hugs and handshakes, he got his hair ruffled every time someone said hi to him.

Kurt is telling Blaine all about this as they walk through Quinn's art gallery in Chelsea; they've been in touch with her for a few months, ever since they ran into her at a deli right around the corner from their apartment, which, ironically enough, is also near where Quinn now lives. She's been doing well, Kurt thinks. She and Jesse met up after college and have been together for four years now; Quinn says she thinks he wants to propose, and that she would definitely say yes if that were the case.  
"Poor baby," Blaine says, pouting mockingly at him. Kurt smacks his arm and rolls his eyes before walking away to look at a beautiful photograph of a building on Brooklyn. Blaine follows immediately, being the good boyfriend he is, wrapping an arm around Kurt's waist and kissing his cheek.

"You know I hate when people touch my hair," Kurt whines, still unable to drop the topic. He feels the slightest bit stupid for letting it get to him so much, but he honestly can't help it. It's his hair! His most prized possession! His pride and joy! "And now I have fifty people touching my hair every day. It's torture."

Blaine hums noncommittally in response and walks toward the next piece, commenting on something or other about the artist's portrayal of the subject in such a simplistic way. Sometimes Kurt wishes his boyfriend weren't so smart. Sometimes.  
"Hey, don't do the whole 'I'm going to nod and pretend I'm interested' thing to me," Kurt says, following after Blaine. "You know I hate when you do that. Blaine. Blaine!"

Blaine spins around, looking at him exasperatedly. "What is it, Kurt?" he asks, raising his eyebrows. His very peculiar, triangular-shaped eyebrows. Kurt has a abrupt urge to point this out, but he bites the remark back, knowing it's completely out of nowhere and unnecessary to comment on it.

"Can you, I don't know, sympathize a little with me here?" he asks, suddenly feeling very immature. He takes a sip of the martini in his hands and looks at Blaine, who just sighs and runs his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You're right. I'm totally overreacting here."

Blaine shakes his head and takes a step closer, holding out one of his hands. Kurt reaches out with his free hand and takes it, immediately intertwining their fingers. Holding Blaine's hand is something he just won't ever get tired of. They don't need to say anything, because they know they're okay. It was a stupid fight, but it's over now.

They spend the rest of the night like this, walking from piece to piece and just talking, telling each other about their days at work. By the end of the night, Kurt feels infinitely better about the hair thing.

As they're getting into a cab to head to their apartment, Blaine suddenly gasps and looks at Kurt. "I almost forgot to tell you!" he exclaims, pressing his forehead to his palm in a move that's so very Blaine of him. Kurt takes his hand and laces their fingers together, waiting for Blaine to continue. "Finn called today. He said that if we could go to Lima that weekend, that'd be great, because he and Rachel have an announcement to make."

Kurt looks at Blaine, eyebrows raised and lips pursed. There's only one thing he can think of that would require them going all the Lima. "And Rachel didn't tell me at rehearsal?" he says contemplatively. "You think he finally proposed to the poor girl?"

Blaine grins and nods. "That or he's going to propose to her when we're there," he answers. Kurt nods in reply, turning to look out the window. He knows that they're all old enough to get married, but a part of him doesn't feel like it. He's turning thirty soon—and Blaine's birthday was last month—but he isn't in a rush to get married at all. He doesn't feel old. He feels good, young, in his prime. He isn't even sure he wants to get married anytime soon.

He turns to look at Blaine and considers telling him that. He knows Blaine and he knows what Blaine wants—a future, kids and a nice big house with a white picket fence and a swing on the porch. Kurt wants it too, but he doesn't know if he wants it _yet_. And that right there is the problem.

Kurt can't seem to stop thinking about weddings and marriages for the next few days as they get ready to drive to Lima. He feels like driving back home is a really, really bad idea, but Burt and Carole are moving to a new house and they insisted Kurt pick up the things that he'd never taken with him to college. They rent a Navigator, much like the one Kurt drove back in high school, and accept the fact that they have to drive ten hours.

He just never realized how long the drive from Manhattan to Lima was until the third hour straight of listening to Katy Perry. Even though he and Blaine have already been dating for three years (so obviously, he's known about his obsession with the singer for a while), he's come to realize during the one-third of the trip that they've already completed that her songs don't get any less repetitive with time.

"Any chance we can listen to something else? Something that isn't Katy Perry?" Kurt asks hesitantly, knowing that Blaine will say no. Blaine is a bit of a music hog and he has very predictable music tastes—to be fair, he has gotten better since they started dating, but they were still nowhere near Kurt's.

Okay, maybe he was a bit of a music hog—okay, and a snob, too. Kurt looks over at him and winces, knowing the look on Blaine's face. It's the "I'm trying really hard to say no to you in the very nicest way possible" face, one that Blaine has down pat, since he uses it so often anyway. He pouts, giving Blaine his best puppy dog eyes and hoping that he'll go for it. "Blaine, please? We can listen to anything else you want. Just… no more Katy Perry," he says.

"But you know Katy is my driving muse!" Blaine says defensively, frowning at Kurt before looking back on the road. "Plus, we've only gotten through three of her albums. We have another five to listen to before it's your turn. And then you can play all the Lady Gaga you want."

Kurt sighs and crosses his arms, deciding that as long as Blaine was going to listen to Katy Perry, he was just going to ignore him. Clearly, that was the logical thing to do, because no matter how many times Kurt tries to persuade him with sexual favors, it doesn't seem to work. He puts his feet up on the dashboard and leans the seat back before slipping on his Ray Bans and trying to get comfortable. Maybe if he sleeps through it, the music will become bearable.

Not even five minutes later, Blaine starts talking to him, not even noticing his "I'm ignoring you" stance. Was it not obvious enough? Kurt doesn't answer, simply huffing and turning sideways so he was looking at the door. Blaine still doesn't take notice and keeps talking, going on and on about who knows what. Probably something about Katy Perry, since she's so fantastic and all. Yeah, right.

"Kurt?" Blaine says, finally realizing that he's been getting the cold shoulder for at least half an hour. The car has been nothing but Katy Perry for a while, and Kurt is just getting really tired of it. "Are you really ignoring me?" Blaine tries again.

"Okay, that's really childish of you," Blaine mutters, and Kurt sits up suddenly, taking off his sunglasses so he can properly glare at Blaine. Childish? He isn't being childish. He's just tired of listening to Katy Perry. Is that so bad?

"I'm being childish?" he repeats coldly, looking at Blaine with his eyebrows raised. In one swift move, he presses eject on the CD player and takes the CD out, still glaring at Blaine. "I'll show you childish!"

Before he can properly think about what he's doing, he's opening the window and tossing the CD out, which, judging by Blaine's expression, was not a smart move at all. It's worth it for one second, just because Blaine is gaping at him and it's all really funny—but only for a second. Because then Blaine is just plain mad, and Kurt knows one of their screaming matches is about to happen.

"Are you demented or something?" Blaine exclaims, still looking thoroughly shocked. "That was my deluxe edition of her debut album! Do you know how hard I had to look to get that?"

"It's a CD, Blaine!" Kurt replies haughtily, rolling his eyes. "You have it on your computer, on your phone and on your iPod. And you basically forced me to put it on mine, too. I'm sure you'll be fine."

Blaine just gapes at him, sitting there with his mouth open (which is totally unflattering, by the way), like he can't come up with a proper response to Kurt dismissing _his_ most prized possession as just a CD. "You can't give me shit for that, Kurt Hummel, and you know it," he snaps, narrowing his eyes at Kurt as his hands tighten around the steering wheel. Kurt notices the speed going up increasingly fast—they're definitely driving a good fifteen miles past the speed limit now.

"Blaine, slow down," he says calmly, settling back in his seat and putting his Ray Bans back on. "No need to drive like a maniac."

"Stop trying to control me!" Blaine cries out, shooting him a quick glare before turning towards the road and pressing down on the gas. They were so going to get pulled over now. "Why do you have to be such a control freak? Is this what you're going to be like when we get married?"

When they get—what? Kurt's jaw drops open. "What are you talking about? When we get married? We're not even engaged," he says, trying to sound calm and collected, and probably failing miserably at it.

"Fine," Blaine mutters through gritted teeth, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tight, his knuckles were white. "Will you marry me, you psychotic, demented control freak?"

Kurt doesn't even know what to say. One on hand, Blaine just _proposed_ and he wants to cry and scream and hug him and never let him go. Every doubt that he'd had about getting married seems to have gone right out the window with Blaine's Katy Perry CD. But on the other hand, Blaine just called him psychotic and a control freak, and Kurt is sure he should be offended.

"Holy shit," Blaine whispers, and it's so quiet compared to the rest of their conversation, the car almost feels empty without their screams. "I just proposed to you, didn't I? Holy shit, Kurt, I'm so sorry. That wasn't supposed to happen yet, not till your birthday and I was getting a ring and I did not mean to call you psychotic and deranged and a control freak—"

"Demented," Kurt interrupts, looking at Blaine. Suddenly, he's really damn sure what's going to happen next and it feels good.  
"Sorry?"

"You called me demented," Kurt explains and he's grinning, his eyes bright and even a little shiny with tears (not that he'll admit it) because holy crap, he's going to get married to Blaine. "Yes, by the way."

Then Blaine is grinning, too, and his eyes fill with tears. He doesn't even try to hold back, just grins like a fool, and Kurt falls even harder for this wonderful man who, he realizes now, is going to become his husband. Because they're getting married. "Blaine. Stop crying and drive," he says, but the remark doesn't come out the way he wants it to; how could it? They're both crying a little, both grinning widely. Kurt grabs Blaine's hand and squeezes it and they both chuckle and in that moment, Kurt knows it's definitely all going to be okay.

The CD, however, he will need to replace.


End file.
